Grant-Lee Phillips to release new album ‘Widdershins’ on 23 February 2018!

Dec 29, 2017

“Widdershins…it’s an old word. Moving counterclockwise, spiraling backwards. This album begs the question, “In what direction are we moving?” – Grant-Lee Phillips

“I’m drawing from the urgency of the moment,” says acclaimed Nashville-based singer-songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips ofWiddershins, his ninth solo album set for February 23, 2018 release on Yep Roc Records. Inspired by “the things that eat away in the late hours,” Phillips invests the insight, nuance and wit in a riveting dissection of today’s fraught social landscape.

Recorded over four days at Sound Emporium in Nashville, the new album, Widdershins was produced by Phillips (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and cut largely live in the studio as a trio with Jerry Roe (drums) and Lex Price (bass). Mixed by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket) and engineered by Mike Stankiewicz, the album delivers its poetic truths in Phillips’ peerless melodic sensibilities, relayed via vocal performances that balance intensity and vulnerability.“I made a commitment to myself not to sink into despair,” explains Phillips, “I’m tracing a longer narrative here. We’ve been through some of this before – not just our country, but the civilization as a whole.” Phillips sees in Widdershins a connection to his earliest work with Grant Lee Buffalo. “That was also a time of intense social anxiety. The Gulf War, the LA riots – everything became cranked up. Then a few years later there was the earthquake we lived through, which also made for a time of uneasiness. I was in a heightened state when I wrote that stuff – as I am now.”

The California-born singer, songwriter, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, actor, film composer and visual artist began his career in the early ‘90s as the frontman of the acclaimed trio Grant-Lee Buffalo. Once named “male vocalist of the year” by Rolling Stone, USA Today called him a “soulful balladeer” while Uncut hailed him as a “distinguished U.S. songwriter.